From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, May 28: With the alarming rise in the Covid infection cases in rural areas despite the state-wide lockdown enforced by the state government since May 10, chief minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday urged the district administrations to take special measures to strengthen the task forces in the villages to control the surge in the Covid second wave in rural areas.
The chief minister, who visited Tumakuru district for a personal review of the situation in the district on Friday, held a review meeting in the Tumakuru zilla panchayat and urged the officials and elected representatives from the district to ensure that the spike in the Covid positive cases in the district was brought under control.
Yediyurappa expressed concern over the rise in the Covid positive cases in Tumakuru district to 48,643 and the number of deaths at 314 this month from 18,749 and 131 respectively during April. "We need to make special efforts to bring down the mortality rate in the district,’’ he said.
However, the efforts of minor irrigation minister J C Madhuswamy, the district in charge minister, in close coordination with district administration have helped in bringing down the number of cases and the rate of infection in the district has come down from a high of 45% to 25% at present.
"Collective efforts and the cooperation of all concerned will help in controlling the situation,’’ he said and asked the district administration to continue the efforts to reduce the rate of infection to 10%.
Deputy chief minister and state Covid Task Force chief, Dr C N Ashwath Narayan and minister J C Madhuswamy accompanied the chief minister.
The chief minister emphasized the need for tracing and testing the Covid positive cases and said the launch of mobile testing labs will help in ensuring more testing to identify the Covid positive cases.
He also wanted the vaccination drive to be expedited as more doses of vaccines become available. The district has already vaccinated 415,776 persons with the first dose and 1,13,781 have receive the second dose. All eligible persons must be vaccinated as and when the vaccine supply improves, he said.
The district presently has 566 oxygen concentrators, of which 300 are yet to be distributed. Steps must be taken to ensure that the oxygen concentrators are made available throughout the district in the healthcare facilities.
The chief minister asked the district administration to enlist the help of companies, non-governmental organisations and other private undertakings in its efforts to control the spread of the pandemic. The infected persons must be shifted to Covid Care Centres without delay if such persons did not have home isolation facilities.
Minister J C Madhuswamy explained the steps taken by the district administration in Covid control and containment. Steps are being taken to ensure that oxygenated beds and ICU beds were made available for treating Covid patients. The cooperation of leading hospitals like Sridevi and Siddartha has helped in the efforts. Oxygen availability has increased with the help of private companies, he said.
He urged the chief minister to ensure that early clearance and approval was given for starting the cancer hospital in the district despite the sanction of Rs 100 crore.
Tumakuru deputy commissioner Y S Patil, MP G S Basavaraju, MLA M Narayanaswamy and other senior officials attended the review meeting.
Earlier, the chief minister visited the Covid Care Centre at the Sri Siddaganga Math.